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Continue reading →: A Week at St. Francis Prayer Center
My first week on sabbatical brings Kristina and me to St. Francis Prayer Center in Stoneville, North Carolina. This is appropriate as I divest from ministry and my role as pastor, and seek the Lord on His terms. My prayers will no longer center on congregational leadership and the stewarding…
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Continue reading →: Church Betrayal, and other traumas
In an article on Churchleaders.com, David Mercer explores church betrayal as a unique experience among clergy: “Ask clergy privately about the most painful moments of their ministry and many will not point to long hours, low pay, or cultural hostility toward Christianity. Instead, they describe a moment when someone they…
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Continue reading →: Rocket’s Journals
Hello my name is rocket, and I am going with Pastor Joe on his sabbatical. He and I have been preparing for this trip for a few weeks. One of the things that we want to take with us are our journals! I love journals! I wonder why I love…
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Continue reading →: Spiritual Warfare
“It was in the wilderness that Satan attacked Jesus the hardest. It was not in his ministry. It was not in his upbringing. It happened in the moments immediately after God identified Jesus publicly as God’s Beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased. Jesus knew His identity before He…
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Continue reading →: A Conversation on the Edge of Right Podcast with Joe Graves
This past month, I was a guest on the Edge of Right podcast with the good folks at the Graves Thomas Injury Law group. We had a riveting discussion of the origins of the universe, theories of human civilization, and the sanctity of life. Check it out here…
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Continue reading →: Presentation on Georges LeMaitre now available!
In March of 2026, I did a session on Fr. Georges LeMaitre, father of the “Big Bang” theory, for the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society. The audio with slide show is available on YouTube below…
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Continue reading →: Consider Humanity’s Extinction
On a dusky morning of March 24, 2026, I was in my church office when I heard incredibly loud bangs. The first two scared me and, at first, I imagined cars falling off the top level of a nearby parking garage. A dozen cracks echoing off of nearby buildings followed…
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Continue reading →: William Jennings Bryan’s Take on Creation (A “Day” in Genesis, part 3)
Close by to our church sits a plaque in memory of William Jennings Bryan, who gave his “last public address” before his death for the founding of Indian River County. He is famously infamous, depending on who you ask. To some he, leading the Democratic ticket for president in 1896,…
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Continue reading →: Six Literal Days of Creation? (A “Day” in Genesis 1, part 2)
A couple of articles ago, I pointed out that the narrow scope of Christian scientists who argue for a literal, six day creation narrative are applying a novel interpretative lens to Scripture that ignores thousands of years of biblical exegesis. One such scientist, Henry Morris, stated that anyone who does…
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Continue reading →: Striking the Heart of God
There is no denying that the creation accounts in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2/3 are different. In Genesis 1, God is Creator who, with great calculation and intentionality, creates all that there is in six days. In Genesis 2/3, the rhythm of the poetry seems to slow down to a…
Engaging Heart, Mind, and Soul
Rev. Dr. Joe LaGuardia
Rev. Dr. Joe LaGuardia is a pastor, writer, and chaplain residing in Florida. He is author of three books and regular contributor to Smyth & Helwys’ Formations Series. His articles have appeared in USA Today, Baptist News Global, Christian Ethics Today, TCPalm, and Rockdale Citizen.
Baptist Spirituality explores the intersection of faith and culture incorporating biblical scholarship, culture and the arts, politics, science, and theology.
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